HUTTERITE / THE BOOK

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“Hutterite by Kelly Hofer” is a hardcover 8"x10", 240‑page annotated book of photographs depicting (for the first time from the inside) the non‑staged, colourful, and often mystified experience of growing up as a Hutterite teenager on the Canadian prairies.

I captured the photos between the ages of 11 and 19 in my community and in neighbouring colonies in Manitoba. In 2012, I made the life‑changing decision to leave the colony and publicly come out as gay, igniting a national, mainstream conversation about LGBT Hutterites for the first time.

I created this book in the hopes an honest portrayal from the inside will demystify the Hutterite lifestyle. I started photographing life around me at age 11 and just saw it as a form of art. I didn’t consider my work or this series as a 'project' until leaving the colony in 2012, when I quickly realized just how misunderstood and mysterious the Hutterite lifestyle is to outsiders. All of the people in the book are my family, friends, community or neighboring colonies in Manitoba. With both perspectives on life I now have, it's the right time for me to release the book and show the remarkable beauty of Hutterite life.